This invention relates to a bill retention device suitable for use in a bill acceptor used in a vending machine or a leasing machine which can be operated by a bill or in a bill delivery device.
A bill acceptor in a vending machine or leasing machine generally comprises a bill selection device and a bill stocker. The bill selection device automatically draws in a bill inserted from a bill inlet, discriminates a true bill from a false one, returns a false bill to the bill inlet and accepts a true bill. The bill stocker accommodates the bill accepted by the bill selection device. The known bill stocker stacks a newly deposited bill flatly on bills which have already been accommodated and stores a larger number of bills under pressure. While the known bill stocker can store a large number of bills, it has the disadvantage that the volume of the device tends to become large. This is because the mechanism for stacking bills flatly requires space which is the same as or larger than space in which bills can be stored, resulting in a bulky construction as a whole. Besides, this type of bill stocker is incapable of automatically returning the stored bills one by one and, accordingly, it can only function as a cash box and cannot be utilized as a bill escrow device.